Minorities Not Receiving BP Oil Spill Contracts

BP is getting criticism from civil rights leaders about African Americans being left out of the highly profitable oil clean up process. According to a recent investigation by the NAACP, minority contractors are not being given an opportunity to make money by cleaning up the spill that has destroyed the livelihoods of so many black people in the gulf region.

According to information presented in the Federal Procurement Data System, only $2.2 million of the $53 million awarded in contracts to clean up the oil spill have been given to businesses being run by people of color. That is only 4.8 percent of the total. In a recent letter, NAACP President Ben Jealous told BP CEO Tony Hayward that, “contractors of color are not receiving equal consideration for opportunities to participate in mitigation efforts.”